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LGBT rights in the Sino-Soviet Union
'Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in the Sino-Soviet Union ' has been a long-standing recurring issue in the country since its formation back in 1946. Homosexuality was originally decriminalized in 1917, but was recriminalized in 1933 and remained that way for over thirty years. During the Cultural Revolution, homosexuality was decriminalized by Mao Zedong, but was later reversed by Leonid Brezhnev due to the political instability that rocked the country during that time. After Mikhail Gorbachev took officer in 1991 following the coup in August, he pushed forward many reforms, one of which involved the official decriminalization of homosexuality and has remained legal since its legalization back in 1993 and sex-change operations were also legalized in 1997. After a series of political reforms involving the legalization of protests, Gay pride parades became common and were openly allowed by the central government and were even used by propaganda to promote the idea of communist tolerance against the "religious fanatics" of the western world and to demonize organized religion. Despite these changes however, LGBT people in the Sino-Soviet Union face many legal and social challenges in the country as conservative mindsets on homosexuality dominate the general public opinion. A majority of Soviet citizens are not in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage and homosexuality is even declared a mental disorder by psychiatry organizations in the Chinese Soviet republics and conversion therapies remain open across the country. The worst incidents come from the Central Asian and northwestern Chinese Soviet republics where the citizens are mostly muslim and islamic views and sentiments on homosexuality dominate the public mindset and have been sites of the worst recorded hate crimes in the country. Gay rights protests and rallies remain active throughout the country and have been supported by anti-corruption groups, but they've been met with police brutality by the central government and the ruling communist party. History The history of LGBT rights dates back to the days of the Russian revolution when the Bolsheviks and other revolutionary forces overthrew the Tsar and his government bringing an end to the Russian Empire. In 1917, homosexuality was decriminalized and Tsarist Code was abolished which had such practices punishable by religious authorities. Throughout the 1920s and 30s however, public backlash had occured and homosexuality was eventually recriminalized in 1933 after Joseph Stalin took office. Homosexual topics were unfit for public discusion and communist party officials were barred from having same-sex relations, forcing many to lead double-lives and have various affairs with other men in secret. LGBT history under Stalin In 1946, both China and the Soviet Union merged into one country, along with neighboring Mongolia, and formed the Sino-Soviet Union with Stalin taking over as the country's first premier and general secretary. Under his adiministration, homosexuality remained illegal and was now enforced in the newly formed Chinese Soviet republics. The NKVD was reformed and expanded its operations across the country where they spied on Chinese cities and routed out any presence of LGBT residents. After rumors surfaced of LGBT Chinese began fleeing into the countryside, Stalin began a purge of the countryside which lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of peasants and the destruction of countless peasant villages and towns which persisted until his death in 1953. LGBT history under Mao After Stalin's death in 1953, he was succeeded by Mao Zedong who became the new premier and general secretary of the communist party. Under his adiministration, Mao ended the NKVD's purges against LGBT citizens and would later have them reformed into the KGB, a state security organization and intelligence agency instead and the organization ceased all operations against LGBT citizens throughout the Sino-Soviet Union. Mao attempted to make up for the peasant purges by instigating the Great Leap Forward and migrating peasant workers into new communities called communes where they would farm and produce food and harvests for the country as part of his grander peasant restoration movement. During the Cultural Revolution, Mao went even further and declared that homosexuality was decriminalized and established the Central Committee for Sexual Affairs to promote LGBT rights and used the issue as propaganda against traditional Chinese culture, philosophies, and individuals and as part of wider anti-religious campaigns. Despite Mao's promotion of LGBT rights, the revolutionaries had reportedly commited various acts of violence against homosexuals and known dissidents from party officials to even parents were often ridiculed as "perverted conspirators" if they were confirmed or rumored to be gay. Gay acts in public were often shamed and the Committe of Sexual Affairs often did research in accordance with party doctrine which upheald "moral standards and equality" and often published reports classifying homosexuality as a mental disorder and it was eventually purged and disbanded by Mao after its members were accused of being not true communists. According to reports from the archives of the communist party, Mao could've possibly been homophobic and only promoted the idea of LGBT rights as a means of gaining support to purge opposing elements to the communist party and doctrine. LGBT history under Leonid Sometime in 1972, Leonid Brezhnev took office after the Soviet People's Army ousted Mao out of power in a military coup after his Cultural Revolution began destabilizing and threatening the Sino-Soviet Union as a whole. Under his administration and time as premier, he reversed many of Mao's decisions and greatly damaged his legacy, but was willing to keep certain Mao policies in place, one of them being the usage of the Red Guards to be used as a personal enforcement agency for the communist party. Leonoid himself was traditional when it came to the topic of LGBT rights, but he was reportedly tolerant of gay marriage and homosexuality so mcuh so that he had arrested many red guards who reportedly attacked and/or ridiculed certain accused dissidents over being gay. Category:Sino-Soviet Union